The original Pikmin was a new idea from Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Mario and Zelda franchises. It placed players in the roll of Captain Olimar, whose ship had crashed. Using the unique onion-like creatures called Pikmin; players battled creatures and collected spaceship parts. However, gamers had some gripes with the game, mainly the short length (you only had 30 in-game days to find all the spaceship parts). Now, Nintendo is hard at work on a sequel, and the game is looking great.

The first thing you may notice about the sequel is that the game may look a bit better, but there is not too much of a difference between the graphics of the two titles. However, unlike the first game, Pikmin 2 looks to have a variety of environments, showcasing the graphical effects better than in the first game. One example shown was a snowy environment that looked simply beautiful. Sound-wise, the sequel looks to be similar to the first game, with quirky sound effects and catchy background music.

The story of the sequel involves not only Captain Olimar, but a deliveryman named Louie. The pair has gotten themselves into debt after being attacked by a ravenous space bunny, and not having any insurance to cover the damaged goods. To make up for this, Olimar and Louie set off to look for valuable artifacts on the planet of the Pikmin.

Gameplay will be similar to the original game, but with a couple key differences. First, there will be two new types of Pikmin (purple and white). These two types can only be made by throwing five Pikmin into a flower (after which the flower spits out a purple or white Pikmin at random). These types of Pikmin are powerful and rare, so players will want to make sure they stay alive. Pikmin 2 also introduces more strategy. You now have two characters instead of one, and you can switch between the two with a press of the Y button. This means that you can lead Olimar’s group to attack something while Louie’s group goes off to do something else. With this type of strategy, players will be able to pull off even more strategic maneuvers. And this will be needed, as the creatures will be just as nasty as in the first game.

While Pikmin 2 will not have a formal time limit in which you must complete objectives, you will have to do most of your work before sundown, as bigger and nastier creatures come out after dark. The game will also feature underground areas in addition to aboveground ones, and time will temporarily stop while you’re in these areas.

In addition to the main story mode, Pikmin 2 will also have two other game modes, Challenge and Battle. In Challenge mode, players are given different amount of Pikmin, and must complete objectives in a certain amount of time (points can also be earned by collecting artifacts). There will also be an option for two-player cooperative play in the Challenge mode, leading to exciting game opportunities. But if co-op isn’t your forte, there is always the Battle mode. In this game mode, you build your Pikmin army and need to either capture the other player's marble or collect four yellow marbles found on the field of play. There will also be enemy creatures to battle in addition to another player’s army.

With these additions, Pikmin 2 is looking like a worthy successor to the original game. The gripes players had about Pikmin seem to have been addressed with the sequel, and the addition of multiplayer modes adds even more depth to a unique idea. Pikmin 2 will be out on the Gamecube sometime this year. CD

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